Lately, since the end of May of last year, there has been a new wave of racial debate worldwide, especially in the online environment as the pandemic still has its in-person restrictions. Violence towards black people has been being discussed on social media and in the streets. It is brutal and unfair. In Brazil, uncountable cases of “stray bullets” sadly happen all the time, while in the United States there are regular cases of violence from police officers. In most circumstances, it doesn’t matter exactly where the situations repeat: the hate shutting someone else pain.
The Mule (2018) is a film led and directed by the Hollywood relic Clint Eastwood. It is based on the New York Times article The Sinaloa Cartell’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule (2014) and is written by Sam Dolnick. The article tells the story of Leo Sharp, an American veteran from the Second World War (1939-1945) that became the ‘mule’ from the Sinaloa Cartel during his 80s.
In the film adaptation, Earl Stone is a horticulturist in his town and has problems in his professional and personal life. A complicated relationship with his daughter (Iris). He does not go to her wedding but instead participates in a flower exhibition and by contrast, he is more present in the life of his granddaughter (Ginny). When he goes to her engagement party, he is desperate for money. There he met a Latin friend of a maid of honour that offers him a job. Thereby, Earl became the new “mule” transporting cocaine from Illinois to a Mexican cartel. This employment helps Earl to solve his financial issues and allows him to have some extravagances, such as a luxury pick-up truck, but also allows him to help his granddaughter and the club that he goes to.
In parallel, the police officers look for Tata (Earls codename in his gang, which means grandpa in Spanish). This search shows Earl's privileges as a white American senior and war veteran. He gets away with anything which is in stark contrast to the Latino suspects. In these cases, police officers get suspicious, and they get caught most of the time. In the end, the protagonist prioritises his family and recovers his relationship with his daughter, leaving the cartel aside. When Earl is back to the job, his bosses beat him, and the police officers follow him. Then, Earl surrenders and finally is busted. There, Earl keeps his gardening passion, indicated when he planted daylilies. Daylilies are known as flowers of love. I suppose this could work as a metaphor for his troubled relationship between Earl and his family. Besides that, it is a hybrid plant, that could represent his dubiety: the good citizen and drug dealer, the absent father and the good grandfather, the white racist that helps Black and Latin people.
The film received some criticism for its racist, homophobic, and sexist undertones, and Latinos being associated with narcotraffic in the entertainment industry, but I believe it has an important message about white privilege. The term was coined by a black American writer called W.E.B. Dubois in 1935, who used to explain why poor white people didn’t want to team up with poor black people to help one another after slavery was banned. There are ways to positively use white privilege in order to confront racial injustices even when it is uncomfortable. Clint Eastwood’s films also highlight this. His characters are always full of dubieties, as they are often prejudiced, their arc is unique from hate to love.
The director himself has been a target of cancel culture as a result of the undertones in his films, and his conservative political views. In my opinion, Clint Eastwood as a director is clever, when his movies challenge his personal and traditional ideals. In films such as Gran Torino ( 2009) where Walt Kowalski supported his neighbours’ Asian immigrants; Invictus (2009) where is an honour to Nelson Mandela, portraying the union of South Africa in the 1995 Rugby World Cup after 47 years of apartheid; and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) when he showed a Japanese’s perspective which is not often seen in the mainstream world on the battle of Iwo Jima during the Second World War. The last-mentioned film is complementary to Flags of Our Fathers (2006) when there is the point of view by the Americans of the same historical event and has cinematographical parallels. In addition, Eastwood’s characters from non-spaghetti westerns can relate to us human beings, always a well full of contradictions.
Where to watch the mentioned film:
Netflix
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